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Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

W ant to take part in Na- tional Smile Month? Struggling for ideas? Budget too tight? Make the BDHF smile and they can help. Campaign organisers the British Dental Health Founda- tion are offering five organi- sations the chance to win 300 ‘Smileys’ to aid their event, sim- ply by making them smile. So how does it work? Well, you can post your idea on their website, Facebook fan page, on Twitter or email them. They’ll pick out their favourite and voila – free ‘Smileys’. The con- tact details you will need can be found below. Dr Nigel Carter, Chief Ex- ecutive of the Foundation, said: “So far the campaign has gener- ated an excellent response. It is extremely pleasing to see such a variety of organisations taking part in this year’s campaign. “We hope by making so many ‘smileys’ available free of charge that more organisations will come forward and help us spread the messages of National Smile Month. All you need to do is make us smile!” Submit your attempts to make the BDHF smile by 5pm on Friday 8 June at the follow- ing places to be in with a chance of winning: • www.smilemonth.org/page/ competition • Facebook fan page – ‘National Smile Month’ • Twitter – @smilemonth, @Da- vidW_BDHF or @DavidA_BDHF • Email – pr@dentalhealth.org For further information please visit www.smilemonth. org or call 01788 539792. DT Trade a smile for a ‘smiley’ F iona Caldicott, Chair- man of the independent Information Governance Review, has selected the mem- bers of the panel who will con- duct the review. The aim of the Review is to advise on how to achieve a better balance be- tween protecting and sharing confidential personal informa- tion. The members of the Review, entitled ‘Information: to share or not to share?’ have been drawn from patient and volun- tary groups, clinical and local government professionals. Fur- ther information is available at www.Caldicott2.dh.gov.uk Dame Fiona Caldicott, Chair of the Review, said: “I am de- lighted that the individuals who we invited to participate in this work have accepted enthusias- tically. They will play a crucial role in ensuring we have effec- tive connections with groups or individuals whose support we need if our recommendations are to be realistic and likely to lead to constructive and accept- able improvement. The breadth of panel members’ experience will guarantee us the necessary insights to identify the appro- priate balance between sharing and protecting information.” The full list of panel mem- bers is: Dame Fiona Caldicott, Chair John Carvel, former Social Af- fairs Editor at the Guardian Professor Mike Catchpole, Head of Epidemiology and Sur- veillance, Health Protection Agency and Faculty of Public Health Terry Dafter, Director of Adult Social Care, Stockport Council and ADASS Janet Davies, Director of Nurs- ing, RCN Professor David Haslam, Pres- ident BMA Dr Alan Hassey, GP, clinician Academy of Medical Royal Col- leges Dawn Monaghan, Strategic Li- aison Group Manager, Informa- tion Commissioner’s Office Terry Parkin, Director Peoples Services, Bright and Hove City Council and ADCS Sir Nick Partridge, Chief Ex- ecutive Terence Higgins Trust Professor Martin Servers, Ger- iatrician, University of Ports- mouth Caroline Tapster, Former Chief Executive Hertfordshire Country Council Jeremy Taylor, Chief Execu- tive National Voices Sir Mark Walport, Director Wellcome Trust Dr David Wrigley, GP from a Clinical Commissioning Group. DT Membership of Information Governance Review Panel announced E lizabeth May is a special- ist in Special Care Den- tistry currently working for the Somerset Primary Care Service. She plans to celebrate her retirement in June with a “Grand Tour”, in aid of Dentaid, visiting each of the county’s ten clinics in turn – about 200 miles – backpacking with a light- weight tent. Starting on June 28th, the route will take her from her home in the Mendips to Frome, Yeovil, Chard, Taunton, Wel- lington, Minehead, Bridgewa- ter, Burnham-on-Sea, Wells, Glastonbury and home, cover- ing about 25 miles per day, us- ing many of the long distance footpaths in Somerset. She writes: “Dentaid’s aims sum up many of the areas of dentistry in which I have been involved – the wider aspects of delivery of care to populations; issues of access and reaching out to the more vulnerable; pre- vention and education.” Sponsorship donations to benefit Dentaid will be much appreciated and can be made at www.justgiving.com/elizabeth- may1. DT “Grand Tour” to benefit Dentaid June 4-10, 20128 News United Kingdom Edition N ew ways of buying sup- plies and medical equip- ment could save the NHS £1.2 billion to reinvest in patient care, Health Minister Si- mon Burns announced today. The NHS has been asked to ‘raise its game’ when pur- chasing goods and services, such as gloves and sutures, catering and energy, to save at least £1.2 billion over the next four years. The Department of Health, working with the NHS Supply Chain, has also established a £300 million cash fund to en- able the NHS to bulk buy large equipment such as: • CT scanners • MRI scanners • ultrasound machines •cancer treatment technology Thanks to this fund, £11 million has already been saved through orders that have been placed in advance via NHS Supply Chain with suppliers. Traditionally, the NHS has struggled to make the most of its buying power as there was very little knowledge between local hospitals about their equipment needs. This fund allows the NHS to benefit from the savings of bulk buying ex- pensive medical equipment via NHS Supply Chain. Health Minister Simon Burns said: “Waste is unaccep- table when we know there are simple solutions. That is why the NHS needs to buy smarter and get the best value for the taxpayer for every penny spent. “We know that at least £1.2 billion could be saved over the next four years if the NHS in- novatively changes the way it buys goods and services. “Already, over £11 million has been saved through bulk- buy discounts on the cash fund. “This is the first step to bet- ter, smarter procurement in the NHS and we will be work- ing closely with hospital trusts over the next six months to help them save even more money that can be reinvested in patient care.” The recommended life of the majority of equipment such as CT and MRI scanners is ten years, after which it ei- ther needs updating or replac- ing because of wear and tear. There are over 200 of these large scale items that will need replacing over the next cou- ple of years and the NHS will be able to significantly benefit from the discounts achieved via these bulk buy deals when replacing this important equipment. By having the cash fund available, the NHS Supply Chain are able to secure bet- ter bulk buys deals for the NHS with suppliers. As equipment is purchased by trusts, pay- ment for it will go back into the fund, effectively replenishing it for future use. Andy Brown Managing Di- rector of Business Solutions for NHS Supply Chain said: “This important development will allow NHS Supply Chain to group together the purchas- ing power of the NHS for this vital equipment, make large commitments to suppliers and bring improved planning to the management and replacement of this equipment across the NHS and with suppliers.” Procurement plays a valu- able role in driving improve- ment in services. Better pro- curement means these savings can be reinvested to benefit patients. Our ambition is to put in place a world-class procure- ment system in the NHS that is responsive to modern suppli- ers. This will enable the NHS to adopt existing innovations and stimulate new ones that will benefit patients and tax- payers. In addition, hospitals are now being asked to drive for- ward improvements through a series of actions, being more transparent and assessing how they buy equipment and ser- vices, including: • Publish the details of all con- tracts over £10,000 • Appoint a board executive to be accountable for procure- ment performance • Regularly audit procurement These actions in Raising our Game will be taken for- ward immediately, whilst the strategy for developing world- class procurement will be pub- lished later this year. It is vital that we have pro- curement that is not only bet- ter, but is world class. As a first step, Raising our Game sets out the actions that the NHS must take immediately. It should be focused on outcomes, not just cost, and must be responsive to creative ideas from suppliers, procurement specialists, clini- cians and managers. Transforming procurement in the NHS could enhance quality and value and the strat- egy for delivering this will be published later this year. DT Buying smarter could save NHS £1.2bn